Soda fountain



June 23, 1925. 1,543,610

R. G. MARSH SODA FOUNTAIN Filed May 9 19 .4

6 Norm ear;

Patented June 23, 1925.

ROBERT GEORGE MARSH, or DETROIT, 'MIonIeAn.

sonA roun'rnm'. 1

Application filedMay 9, 1924., Serial No. 712,l73.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT GEORGE MARSH, a citizen ofjthe United States, residing at'Detroit, in the county of lVayne and State of Michigan, have invented cer-- tain new and useful Improvements in Soda Fountains, of which the following is a specification, reference being had thereinto the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to soda fountain equipmentand more particularly to anarrangement of the packers orcans in which the icecrearn is packed andfrom which it is served, these packers being contained within a tank or receptacle for holding a refrigerating agent to keep the cream in frozen condition.

Under present day conditions-where floor space is so valuable that everyfoot of space.

saved means a very material saving,it 1s found that the present ,day eq i e t. not only takes up an "unnecessary amount of space but is not sufficiently compact tocontain all the equipment necessary within a smallspace and with a handy arrangement. his the usual practice to provide a; tank or container for holding a refrigeratingmedium such as ice or brine and toprovide'within this container a series of cans or holders for receiving-icecream packers or cans within which the icecream is'packed and from which cans thecream is served directly to the customer. These holders andpackers are usually arranged in a single row or-rows within f the tank and where a considerable numberof these packers are requ1red to hold the different kinds of *flavors of icecream, and ice 1cream "-put up in-difle'rent forms, it is necessary where a single row of packers is provided that this row extends for a considerable distance thus requir-ing a long tank and necessitating the person serving the icecream, back; and

forth along this't'ank. Where a plurality of rows of packers are provided in order-to get the desired number. within a; tank of reasonable length, the tank must necessarily be, of considerable .wid h, thus taking up valuable floor space inwardly from, the -wall of ,the store and where the store, as in many cases isonly a-few feet wide or where thespace available for the fountain equipment is limited; in widthpthis extra-width of tank is very undesirable.

. Further where the refrigerant tank forms a part of the, soda fountain, or dispensing the travel of counter, and where such counter is provided with the usual fountain-fixtures, flavoring receptacles, fete,- this equipment and flavoring receptacles are usually placed above the refrigerant tank at the rear side of the tank, and as they cannot very well be placed higha'bove the tank as theequipment usually includes a counter over which -the ice cream is served, which counter .is above the level of the flavoring receptacles,

the rear part of the tank over which these receptacles are placed is inaccessible and becomes waste space.

' .The mainobject of the present invention is to minimize space required in providing for a considerable number of ice cream packers or holders within a refrigerant tank. A further object is to provide an arrange- -ment1ofipackers or holders particularly adapted for application to ice cream soda fountain counters-and to facilitate the servingofzice cream fromthese containers or packers.v i

A further objectis to provide an arrangement whereby aplurality of packers are made availablerfor servingtherefrom at a single point or. station thereby minimizing the work and space required and'also'increasing the container capacity of a soda fountain of the usual construction. 1 It is also an object of theinvention to provide certain other new and useful features in the construct1on and arrangement, all as hereinafter more fully described. i

. With the aboveand other ends in view 7 the invention consists in providing a rotary holder for a'plurality ofpackers or ice cream containers! with an arrangement thereof within a cooling tank, such as to give a maxi-mum capacity with a minimum space required.

The invention further consists in a mechamcal COIlStIHCtlOIl. and arrangement, all as hereinafter more fully described and more fullypointed out inv the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a-perspective view of a soda fountain with parts broken away. and in section to show a rotary holder or container Fig. 3 .is a perspective view of the rotary holder or container, and

illustrative of the lnvention, in place there- Fight. isaniinvertedlplanview of the holder shown" in'LFig 3.

For the purpose of showing an illustrative application of the present invention, ,a soda fountain of tlieusualgeneralconstruction is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the-. dra-w-' ing, this fountain comprising a suitable cabinet 1 with the upper rear pertionatheree of provided with fountain fixtures 2 and flavor containing compartmentsB; i 'llh'e cabinet. is provided with: insulated walls forma': tank 4; in' which mayv be: placed ice, b1'-ine:o1' suitable refrigerating agent and the upper. front part: of" the cabinet: is provided wit-1r a tank '5,-a drain board? 6: and a= detachable cover 7: fon the refi-igeiating compartment or tank in which cover is an opening'olosed by in detachable. lid S te give acces'sto'an icer'creaml packer or can placed in the tank below this opening: In: a: fountain of the size shown; there would! ordinarily be one or two packers in; the: tank, and where'- the: fountain: is of greater length, there would be. a 'single row Ofl packens; anranged within the tank to beavailable through openings the cover 7 adjacent theforwa'rd side: 03% the tank and fonwardly of the overhanging? flavoncont'aining' cone,

partments EH The: numben of. ice: cream packers which may be" used: in! a fountain of this type; is limited; by the lengtln of the fountain due to the arrangement. of the single row of packers, and? the: comparativel-y large space toward the rear. of! the tank from this rowof packers=,. is all. host space as a double: row cannot be used for the reason that the: second row would come: beneath the: compartments 3' and would. be accessible.

The present inventicn contemplates the use of a rotary holder for holding a plurality. of: icecreanr packers, this holder being rotatable to move the several; packers about a: central pivot, and thus bringing the several packers carried by the helder successively beneath the opening the cover 7, so: that all may be accessiblefor the serving of ice creaingtherefrom through the single opening in. the cover; A minimum of horizontal space is taken up by a plurality of packers, by arranging them a group of three, thus bringing: these packers into the" most compact relation as they are al- Ways of cylindrical tormand. "by the ai rangement of the three: cylinders about the central turning point, they are in clme'cl' relation with but a small central space between the; adjacent sides of the three cans. The holder therefore preferably comprises three cylindrical receptacles I1 which are of the proper diameter to receive the usual icecream containers or packers r4 and these three" receptacles are rigidly connected together attheir up erends by a top plate or disk 12 thro gh Whill"l 1l=uPP B ends f theereeeptacle; open. The three: refleptacles are, rigidly secured together at the lower endsinany suitable manner as by a plate 9. riveted,,.or otherwisesecured over the triangular space between the three receptacles and-this plate is provided with an opening to receive the lower end of a rod 15 which extends iupwardly through the top plate 12, said rod being located in the center of the triangular space between the receptacles" to fornr an: axis about which the receptacles may rotate concentrically. To support" the receptacles 5 upon" the bottom of the: tank: 4, each receptacle at its outer side 1 is provided with an anti-frictiom roller or wheel: 10 car;- riedflby thei'cani in anysuitable manner to turn: freely anch rolliuponthe bottom of the tank. The upper'end of the rod 15: extends through ani opening: in: the cover 7-,. said opening. formingra: guide: to locate t'he', holder sothat, one-of the; receptacles 117 will! be directly; beneath the} opening in: the cover which -is: closed' by the lid 8'- HPOIIL rotation: of therlioldenany" one of the three ricceptacles will be brought into position be neath the opening so that ice! cream may-be served from: any one of; the; packers, thnough this: opening. To f cilitate the rotation: of the holder a crank handle L6 may be: provided: upon-theuppenend oftihe rod 1-5,

With" this arrangement, three; ice cream packers: area located. Within: the and made accessible through; a smgle' opening in the.v cover-where ordinamily only one; packer is placed and the; space: within the tank which" is taken up by the. two; additional packers is the; space which; is: ordinarily waster space within the tank as it is: beneath the-compartments: 3; .Ai' miniimun of space with a: maximum calpacityis therefore secured-by this: arrangement andras the capacity is trebled without: materially increasing the size of the tankrequired', a large numbenof liiardsof ice creamm-ay 'be stored, within a tank of comparati'velfy short lengtln thu's saving a greatdeali of labor inv connection with the serving of ice cream fronzi these packers. I

' As the arrangement of center point of the group, is the most compact arrangement that can be had, a great deal of space may be saved a coo'lingtank ofany type whether used in connection with a soda fountain equipment or 11012 by employing this arrangement, and the desired numberof packers are made available a tank of bothminimum-width length. Further as three packers are made accessible through a single opening the cover, much time is saved as it is necessary to remove but a single cover instead of being obliged to remove three covers or one for-each, packer as in the usual construction; And-"further the contents of'tlie tank are expos d fie the P r n groups of three rotating these Packer's about a V outside atmosphere through less openings upon removal of the covers than in the usual arrangement.

While a particular construction of rotary holder or stand has been shown, and while in the accompanying drawing there is illus trated a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the structural elements are susceptible to such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is:

1. The combination of a receptacle for a refrigerant a detachable cover for said receptacle provided with a small opening and a large opening, a rotary holder within the refrigerant receptacle to receive and hold a plurality of ice cream containers, said holder including a rod extending through the small cover opening and adapted to be rotated to bring the containers successively beneath the large opening in the cover.

2. An ice cream container holder comprising cylindrical receptacles, a top plate connecting said receptacles, a bottom plate connecting said receptacles, and a rod connecting said top and bottom plates and extending above said top plate so as to facilitate rotation of said holder. I

3. In a soda fountain structurewherein a tank contains a refrigerant material and soda fountainfixtures overhanging the rear portion of said tank; means for rotatably supportingicecream containers in said tank so that said containers may be swung under the fountain fixtures, said means comprising a plurality of cylindrical receptacles, a top plate securing the upper ends of said receptacles together to rotate about a central vertical axis, and means extending from said tank for rotating said top plate to bring the receptacles successively into position at the I front portion of sald tank. 7

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT GEORGE MARSH. Witnesses: ANNA M. Donn, CHAS. W. STAUEEIGER. 

